Exosquad

Exosquad was a 1993–94 animated television series produced by Will Meugniot and Universal Cartoon Studios. Created as a response to Japanese anime and set in the beginning of the 22nd century, the show covers the interstellar war between the humanity (Terrans) and Neosapiens, a race artificially created as slaves for humans. The narration generally follows the Able Squad, an elite Terran unit of E-frame (mecha) pilots, on their missions all over the Solar system, although other storylines are also abundant. The series ran for two complete seasons and was canceled after one third season episode had been produced.

J.T. Marsh (VO): It was a golden age for all mankind. Using the incredible exoskeletons called E-frames, we had successfully terraformed Venus and Mars, and were now poised to move on to the Outer Planets. Suddenly, it all ended. We were pressed into a nightmarish war on a scale previously unimagined. We were attacked by our own creations, the Neosapiens, a race of artificially created humans. Led by Phaeton, they had seized control of Venus, Earth, and Mars. This is Lt. J.T. Marsh, member of the Exofleet, leader of a small band of E-frame pilots dedicated to freeing humanity from Neosapien rule. We are... the Exosquad.

Phaeton: The birth of the Neosapien order is a thing of beauty. It would be unthinkable to not witness the most important event in history... the moment the Neosapiens seize their destiny. The reign of the old humanity ends this day. We, the stepchildren of mankind, are now its rulers. Think, Typhonus, what the rule of the Neosapiens means. Justice, at last. Logic, at last. Order, at last. Our laws will prevail. What glories the Homeworlds will see, governed by our even hand!

Phaeton: Since its conception, the Neosapien race has lived under the oppressive rule of a homo sapien regime. Forced to work and serve as slave labor, only to benefit Terran objectives. Today marks the beginning of a new and enlightened era and the history of your kind comes to an end. The future now belongs to Neosapiens. You as the representatives of the Terran Homeworlds must accept this reality. Your unconditional surrender to us, to me, is now a fact.

History will record the inevitability of your decision. Any form of human resistance will be met with immediate extermination. The tables have turned and now you, Terrans, will serve the Neosapien Commonwealth. And I, Phaeton, am now your leader. I now hereby declare this assembly dissolved, as your services are no longer required.

Jonas Simbacca: Many years ago our ancestors came to Tethys as convict labor. In exchange for their work, they were promised freedom and help in building new lives. Many did not survive to see the end of their sentences. Then the Neosapiens were created. The rich mines of Mars were opened. And the mines, and miners, of Tethys were abandoned. From the struggle to survive, the Pirate Clans were formed. Metals were dug, ships were built. Whatever else the clans needed they took from the Homeworlders who had lied to them for decades.

Sean Napier[during the Exofleet-Pirate negotiations]: The Pirates can share Mars with the Neosapiens. After the war there'll be plenty of room for both of you. I've fought the Neos face-to-face, whatever else you may think of them they've got guts. Besides, there won't be many of them left.

Wolf Bronsky: Man, it's just another day at the office. Savin' everyone's butt.

Marsala: I do not express my feelings the way you do. That does not mean I feel less. Concern for friends is common to all humans, and we Neosapiens are very much human. If Terrans had remembered that, perhaps this war would never have been fought.

Jonas Simbacca[to J.T. Marsh]: There will be fortunes to be made after the war. More wealth than I ever saw as a Pirate. I intend to be one of the most important men in the Solar system. And you could be there, with me, at my side. In this war I have trusted men with my life. You, I would trust with my money.

Jonas Simbacca: I like the way you think, J.T. Marsh. You will command the counterattack.

J.T. Marsh: But, Simbacca, that's a job for a senior commander.

Jonas Simbacca: If you win, no one will complain. And if you lose, there won't be anyone left to complain.

Phaeton: The blow you are about to strike will send the Terran rabble back to the cover of their Pirate hideouts. You will have your revenge for the Terrans' destruction of Mars. I will build a monument to your victory on Venus, and inscribe your names in stone, so that future broods will remember your courage.

J.T. Marsh[after shooting the General's E-frame down]: You were the best of them, Shiva. Too bad you didn't serve a better cause.

[injured in the crash, General Shiva is found by Exoscouts]

"Pirate": You're our prisoner, Neo.

Shiva: Not for long. Soon I will be free.

"Doc": What's your name and rank?

Shiva: I am... I... am just a soldier.

Shiva[to the Exoscouts]: Put me... down. Leave me. I do not wish to spend my last moments with half-formed Terrans.

Sean Napier[to the Terran workers]: I understand you people are hungry. But what are you hungry for? Food? Or freedom? It's 400 kilometers to Chicago. Those tanks can make that in 2 hours. Anyone feel like a drive?

Thrax[to Galba]: I used to worry how I would face the end. Would I go bravely like a soldier? But let me tell you something, Neo Mega, it's life itself that matters, not how it ends. Each moment is a precious gift, if only we have the courage to accept it. That is where our duty lies, not in taking life, but in living it.

Vince Pellegrino[reading the engraving over Phaeton's bunker]: Abandon all hope...

Marsala: Without tradition to guide us, without posterity to judge us, we live in a moral void as empty as space itself. We are desperate for something to give our lives purpose. That is what Phaeton offered us.

Admiral Winfield (VO): In war, the deadliest weapon of all is brain. Exofleet's secret weapon is Professor Algernon. Algernon is so brilliant that sometimes, even a war isn't enough to hold his interest. His mind roams far beyond the battlefield, beyond the confines of the Solar System, always searching for the unknown.

Admiral Winfield (VO): Her family was the most important thing in Lt. Nara Burns' life... until the Neosapiens came. Now the exosquad is the only family she has. Some people say she lacks experience, that she isn't ready to lead an exosquad... That's not what the Neosapiens say.

Admiral Winfield (VO): I have once asked Cpt. Avery Butler what was the hardest thing about commanding a jumptroop platoon. He said, a platoon leader sends a personal message to the family of every trooper lost in action - that's the hardest thing. With the Neos in control of the Earth, there is no way to contact the families but Avery Butler still records the message...

Admiral Winfield (VO): Marsala was one of last rebels captured at the end of the First Neosapien War. This time, he is on our side. Marsala and Phaeton were created together, in the same brood. If they were Terrans, we'd call them "brothers".

Admiral Winfield (VO): People fly in their dreams, but what they are really dreaming about is freedom. For J.T. Marsh, flying doesn't mean freedom - but responsibility. Responsibility for the lives of the men and women in his exosquad. J.T.'s dream is that someday, the war will be over and there will be open sky again.

Admiral Winfield (VO): Cpl. Vince Pellegrino comes from a long line of soldiers. If they were still around, he'd drive them all crazy. He is undisciplined, un-military, unpredictable. And also, a born fighter.

Admiral Winfield (VO): Graduation Day at the Exofleet Academy is the proudest moment in a young officer's life. On the day that Colleen O'Reilly graduated, the Neosapien War began. Only a few cadets from her graduating class survived to join the Exofleet. Lt. Colleen O'Reilly will never forget the ones who didn't make it.

Admiral Winfield (VO): If Exofleet supply could build troopers the way we build E-frames, Sgt. Rita Torres would be standard issue. For the soldiers as good as Torres, it's easy to forget that there is a human being inside the uniform. It's the same as to forget what's going on inside a reactor... until it explodes.

Phaeton (VO): As Minister of War, Typhonus is my strong right arm but I cannot grow a new arm. Someday, it may become necessary to destroy Typhonus. A clone is ready, an exact duplicate. I will replace Typhonus with... Typhonus.